Myths Vs Facts | 15 common myths most people think are actually facts.

We’ve had a lot of misconceptions about certain myths which we think are actually true. Because most stories were told to us when we were quite young, passed from generations to generations or even by close friends as adults, or maybe by our teachers, and since almost everyone believes same, we tend to also establish them as facts.

This post intends to debunk certain myths which through the years, have sat in our minds as facts. I also thought a lot of them were true since they were widely believed.

Here are 15commonmythsdebunked.

1 Thewhole10–percentbrain ‘thing‘:

It is believed that only about 10% of the human brain is used because the brain is too large an organ to be used daily. Oh well, this may sound true but neurologists disagree. The fact is, even though the proportion of the brain used at any one time is task-dependent, ultimately, every region is used daily even while we’re asleep.

No where in the book of Genesis was it stated that it was an Apple. It clearly stated that they ate the ‘forbiddenfruit‘ from the tree of knowledge.

3 Microwaveradiationcancausecancer:

I honestly thought this to be true and even had to reduce the number of times I use the microwave to heat up foods. But most experts say microwave ovens don’t give off enoughenergy to damage DNA in cells so they can’t cause cancer. Only a few types of radiation causes cancer and this depends on the dose. The sun for example, can cause cancer but just enough is needed for vitamin D too.

Honestly, a lot of people think so. Sydney is one of the largest and most popular cities in Australia so it can be excused. If I’m asked the capital of Australia in a quiz competition, I’d probably say Sydney too but no! The capital of Australia is actually Canberra.

5 Tomatoesareavegetable:

Just because we can heat it doesn’t make it so. It’s actually a fruit!

6 Chameleonschangecolourtomatchtheirsurroundings:

No! They actually change colours as a response to mood, temperature, communication and light and not the object they are touching.

I rarely sit too close to any TV because ‘itwillmakemehaveabadsight‘. Neither do I encourage anyone around me. However, experts say the most this would do is give you a headache from eye fatigue. The rumuor started with old TVs because they produced some X-rays but modern/newer TVs don’t. However, sitting too close to TV could be a symptom of nearsightedness.

Eating sugar won’t give you diabetes even though Diabetes associations recommend people avoid eating excess sugar because they could increasetherisk of having diabetes. Diabetes is a complex condition and there is no evidence to prove sugar is the direct cause of it. Excess weight and inactivity are contributing factors. However, the failure of pancreas to secrete enough insulin needed to convert excess sugar to glucose often leads to diabetes. The body can become resistant to insulin too. And diabetes can also be hereditary.

Absolutely No! Gum is mostly indigestible. But the little pieces you occasionally do swallow will take the exit door through the anus as it is with other substances the body doesn’t need and can’t digest. The only time this can pose a problem if it’s swallowed along with anything that shouldn’t be in your stomach. E.g. Coin.

Although we usually call it ‘bananatree‘ and it sure looks like a tree, the stem doesn’t contain woods or wood tissues. And so it is a herbaceousplant meaning it grows on herbs.

11 Eatinglateatnightwillmakeyoufat:

The truth is, calories are calories no matter when you take it. There’s no particular hour that determines the calories must be stored as fat. If you’re hungry late at night, it’s advisable to feed your body. What you eat and How much you eat is by far more important than when you eat it.

Actually, this is an advertising campaign hair shampoo/conditioner manufacturers use to sell their products. The fact remains and there’s no two ways about it, that split-ends are cured by simply cutting them off!

14 Anti–perspirants/ deodorantscausebreastcancer:

Some scientists think chemicals found in these could be absorbed through the under-arm and then end up in the breast tissue and lead to cancer. But Cancer institutes say there’s no proven evidence connecting such products with breast cancer.

Hi,
I agree with your Doctor, if you already have a headache, computers will make it worse. You need to step away for a while and let your fatigued eyes rest a bit. Taking freq breaks will help your eyes recover.
However, your computer screen does not emit enough radiation to damage your eyes unlike the UV rays and X rays. The most it can do is cause eye fatigues.

There’s no proof that computer use causes any long term damage to your eyes. But regular use can often cause eye fatigues.

This is a mixed bag of myth busters that surprised me, and some I knew, such as the ‘forbidden fruit’ and the ones about tomatoes and bananas (clearly I like food!). But I must admit the ones that made me gasp are the microwave (thank God for no cancer!), and the sugar facts (thank God for no diabetes!)

Thanks Madeline for reading! About the microwave myth, I was so certain it causes cancer but I learnt further that, just like the name implies, MICRO- WAVE. it does not produce enough energy to damage DNA cells unlike the UV rays, X-rays, gamma rays and so forth. It doesn’t make our foods radioactive in any way. We just need to follow instructions on how to use it.

And ofcourse before now, in many of my biology classes back in Sec. sch, we were taught that Sugar is not the direct cause of diabetes even though it isn’t advisable to eat excess of it. The body needs sugar too. It is only when the body isn’t able to convert the excess sugar due to less insulin or insulin resistance, then it could lead to that condition.

Excess weight & lack of exercise to burn energy could also contribute and we could also inherit it. I wasn’t surprised it’s only a myth that some people believe sugar as the causative factor.

I’m super glad you found this educational and informative. Yay!!! To me and much thanks my lady.

Haha! Men are from Pluto. Actually, I exported them there. Lol . This is merely a psychological or should I say behavioral analysis without a basis of fact. Well, until proven otherwise. But till then, Men aren’t from Mars neither are women from Venus.

I also believed that we only use 10% of our brain, that Sydney was Australia capital, that bananas grow in a tree and the eating late will make you fat, actually more like eating too close to the time you go to bed. It’s so nice to find out that those are just myths and pour geography knowledge :))

Oh! That on Aussie and Sydney, I thought so too. And eating late will make you fat. The concern should be WHAT you eat and HOW MUCH you eat. Although I have some concern about inactivity after the food. The thing is, spreading the food bit by bit through out the day could be helpful. There’s definitely no magic time or hour as to when each food makes us fat.

Thanks for reading Cristina, you can always stop over for a good read. 😊

Great article and extensive research! I can’t believe we don’t know what the forbidden fruit is! My favorite though is the capital of Australia!! As for the breast cancer and the link to the aluminum in the perspirant, it’s hard to prove but there is some truth in it. Putting chemicals on our body is definitely dangerous.

Not all chemicals are toxic or hazardous though. You should read the ingredients in your products carefully before use. That said, we can only assume the forbidden fruit is apple. But no where was it stated so.
About Australia, almost everyone thought so too. I was amazed to find out Sydney isn’t.
Thanks Lara for your comment.

Great post! You surprised me with this capital of Australia. I was sure it was Sydney 🙂 It looks like I do not know anything about chameleons too:) As for the color of the teeth, my cousin who is a dentist said that the yellow teeth are the strongest .

So awesome reading all of these facts, some of them I’ve learned about like Australia’s capital or Tomatoes are fruits but some are new to me, like sitting too close in front of the TV. Regardless, it was fun getting to read them all!

I’m ashamed to admit that I believed most of these. 😂 especially the one about chameleons blending in with their surroundings. I always thought they color matched as a form of disguise. LOL. You learn something new every day.

This was fun to read because I once fell victim to some of these myths. My friends are in Canberra. When they just moved there, they referred it as Australia’s capital. That was a rude awakening for me cos I had always thought Sydney. As for the late eating. I always laugh hard when a ‘weight loss coach’ is vehemently talking against it. In my mind I say, “calories are calories”. They don’t go multiplying themselves when it’s late. Yeah….sugar doesn’t give diabetes. Failure of the pancreas doing its work does. That was a tough fact to sell to people cos they’ve been told this for donkey years. Great post, Jess.http://www.bubusboulevard.com

I loveeee this post. I was hooked when I saw the bit about Sydney not being the capital of Australia because I actually made the mistake recently and I was even arguing that I was right till Google came to the rescue. I think the bit about eating late making one fat has to do with the fact that apart from the amount sleep uses, we don’t get to burn enough calories through physical activity once we go to bed.
Banana ‘trees’ aren’t trees? Wow.
You can already tell I enjoyed reading this post. Thank you for putting it together, I’m definitely sharing it. xx A Literary Conversation | MARCH
Laitanbee.com

Yea Olaitan, almost everyone believes Sydney is the capital of Australia.
On eating late/weight gain, I think the ‘time’ you eat any food isn’t the issue. Cos it isn’t going to count more than the one you ate during the day.The issue is ‘how much’ calories you consume and ‘what’ you actually eat. Even though there’s usually less activity at night, your metabolism keeps working even while asleep. And so eating late nights doesn’t multiply your calories except you do.

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